Hosted at Goodfellas Gallery in downtown Toronto, the Converse CONS Weapon launch party started off with introductions from Canada Vice President of Marketing, Marciano Lobo, and Converse CONS Design Director, Chris Law, who explained the five-sneaker collection in detail.

Designed to celebrate Converse’s history while also pushing creativity forward, the new generation of the CONS Weapon features a modern silhouette and slight adjustments to the classic design. “It looks like the original, but has a lot more love than just bringing back the original,” Law told the assembled audience.

After intros, it was time for rap acts Vince Staples, El-P, and Ghostface Killah (with Sheek Louch, too!) to hit the stage. It was not only the send-off for what’s sure to be a hot CONS item this summer, but also the culmination of CONS Project: Toronto, which the brand calls “a series of global community projects designed to inspire the next generation of creative spirits through music, art, style and sport.”

Check out photos from last night’s event above, and be on the lookout for more from our time in Toronto in the next print issue of SLAM.

Meet the next evolution of the Converse Weapon—the brand new CONS Weapon sneaker collection is a compilation of five kicks crafted with the inspiration of Converse’s silhouette history and the striking quality of a modern shoe. The sneakers, which will launch throughout summer 2014, include the Converse CONS Weapon Patchwork (June 13, $130), the Converse CONS Weapon Ray Pack (July 11, $120) and the Converse CONS Weapon Reflective Mesh Pack (August 9, $120).

Per our people at CONS, “Each sneaker is built with a focus on internal comfort, including a padded internal Y-Bar with memory foam for enhanced cushioning and fit, as well as a plush marbled EVA sockliner. The external Y-bar and Star Chevron logo are rooted in the design DNA of the coveted original Weapon, but updated to balance with the renewed upper construction.”

We’ll have much more to come from the official launch of the collection this week in Toronto, so stay tuned!

It’s no secret that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were huge for Converse back in the day. So given the recent acclaim of the Magic/Bird play on Broadway, the Converse Weapons are on the way back to retail shelves—this time a collaboration project with the help of Pimp My Kicks. The re-vamped Weapons feature the original colors for each player (yes, Bird rocked the Black/White joints with the Celtics) and both have the classic One-Star logo. Available at Converse retailers.

As SLAM approaches its 13th issue of KICKS, there are 12 previous issues to contemplate, celebrate and fawn over. Beginning in September 1998, KICKS has become a staple of the SLAM identity. It’s never been enough for SLAM to bring you just the game on the court. Continuously and without fail, SLAM goes behind the scenes to plate every detail you’d ever want to know about the people who compete in the greatest game on this planet. And perhaps no aspect of basketball has transcended the sport than kicks.

Sneakers, shoes, high-tops, low-tops, retros, AF1, Air Jordan, AND 1s, Chuck Taylor, Puma, adidas, Converse Weapons, Reebok and so on and so forth. It’s the sole reason why KICKS is produced every single year, to fulfill the shoe obsession that has taken over basketball and culture, from America to Japan, from the ’50’s to the present. As Russ said in KICKS 2,

“Bottom line: if sneakers are cool, a whole magazine dedicated to them must be off the meter. We think it is. And if you come across a pair of purple-yellow-and-white Worthy’s in a 9.5, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”